Handwriting

I think that I have finally found the answer to Dearie’s Handwriting. Her handwriting has been horrible ever since she started to write. I think that the problem was that she was so little when she learned to read that I pushed her write before she was ready, amistake that I am trying to not repeat with Kiddo. Her printing still resembles that of a 5yo. So, this year I thought that we would try cursive. If she started over with a new way of writing, it just might be that she would learn it right and maybe it would be readable. Just maybe.

At the beginning of the year, I gave up. Dearie hated cursive. I dropped it for a couple of months, but when I re-did the schedule in Jan, I added 15 min. of handwriting. I just told her to do her book, and I stayed out of it. It worked! She came to me a couple of days ago and said that showed me that she had learned all the letters except q, x, and z. I told her that she could switch over to cursive whenever she wanted to. She is still working in her handwriting book, but she is writing in cursive for most of her assignments. I can now actually read the work she does! Switching to cursive had another advantage; she no longer capitalizes stray letters in the middle of words! I think that cursive is going to be a good thing for her.

2 Responses to “Handwriting”

Hi there! Couldn’t help but notice your comment on Dearie’s handwriting .. “she no longer capitalizes stray letters in the middle of words”… As a Handwriting Analyst with over 30 years of experience, I can tell you (with some amusement and happiness for you) that capitalizing stray letters in the middle of words is an indication of a defiance of authority, someone who has a tendency not to listen to authority figures, but loves to go his/her own way! This is different from rebellion (which people feel is less offensive than outright defiance of authority)… so you might think back to what Dearie was like when she included the stray caps, and compare her attitude toward authority now that her cursive has eliminated this characteristic. Congrats! Even children’s handwriting can show us SO much… in fact, I have spent hours of lecturing on Teach In Days to classes of middle and high-school students are amazed at what their handwriting shows… so much potential, so many talents. Helping them see and eliminate strokes that do not support healthy personal growth is a real joy. And Dearie just did it with maturity!! Have a wonderful day!

Wow! That is amazing. It is true that her attitude has improved greatly in the last year. A lot of reasons for that. She did some writing today, and she printed it, but I didn’t see any capitalized letters in it. How interesting!